High Court
Case Details
WP(C) 6192/2012 BEFORE HON’BLE MR JUSTICE B. K. SHARMA
Legal Reasoning
Heard the petitioner, who has argued, in person. Also heard Mr. R.K.Bora, learne d State Counsel as well as Mr. M.U. Mahmud, learned counsel representing the Ele ction Commission. I have also heard Mr. D. Baruah, learned counsel representing the Election Commission. The petitioner is an ex-student of Nagaon College and as submitted by hi m that he is also a member of the Alumni Association of the said college. He has also been nominated as a member of the Institute of Distance Open Learning (IDO L), GU, Nagaon College study centre. It is in that capacity that he has filed th e instant writ petition apprehending disturbance of the academic atmosphere of t he college, because of the proposed action of the respondents to requisition the College for the purpose of the ensuring Panchayat Election. According to the petitioner, the academic atmosphere of the college shou ld not be disturbed only for the purpose of conducting the ensuing Panchayat Ele ction and for that matter; the Educational Institution should be left out from r equisitioning in connection with the said election. In this connection the petit ioner has also referred to Annexure-I, Circular/Letter dated 28.07.2010, issued to the Chief Electoral Officers of all the States and Union Territories by the E lection Commission of India by which it was emphasized that the Educational Inst itutions should be least affected in respect of storage of polled EVMS etc. The petitioner has also referred to the Annexure-II letter dated 07.04.2011, address ed to the Chief Election Commission of India by the Principal of Nagaon College, highlighting grievance in respect of requisitioning of the college for election purpose earlier. By Annexure-III and Annexure-IV letters dated 19.05.2011 and 3 0.05.2011 respectively, the College Authority also urged upon the Deputy Commiss ioner, Nagaon to pay compensation for damaging the class rooms. Referring to the time schedule for different examinations, the petitione r has also submitted that if the college is requisitioned for storage etc., the said examinations will be badly affected. In the counter affidavit filed by the District Administration, it has been stated that the District Administration has proposed to use only a part of the college for the ensuing Panchayat Election, 2013 and that it has no intention to disturbe the academic atmosphere of the col lege as well as the classes thereof. It has also been stated that the Administra tion is ready to pay compensation for damage etc. that might be caused during th e requisitioning period. In paragraph 12 of the said affidavit it has been state d thus: (cid:28)That with regard to the statements made in paragraph-10 of the petition , the deponent states that the District Administration proposed to use Auditoriu m for few days for training and a part of College w.e.f. 20.01.2013 to 15.02.201 3 only for ensuing Panchayat Election, 2013. Hence, District Administration has no intention to disturb academic atmosphere of the college and as well as classe s thereof. However, this time also only 2(two) days during counting on 14th and 15th February, 2013 will require complete closure of the college and out of this 2 days, 15.2.2013 is a holiday as per the Academic Calendar of Gauhati Universi ty. (cid:29) From the above, what is seen is that the collage will have to remain clo sed on 14th and 15th of February, 2013 out of which 15th February, 2013 is a hol iday as per the academic calendar of the Gauhati University. Thus, according to the respondents the collage will remain closed only for one day i.e. on 14th Feb ruary, 2013. So far as the college auditorium is concerned, the same will be use d for the period from 20.01.2013 to 15.02.2013. The petitioner submits that ther e shall be no objection in respect of occupation of the college auditorium for t he said period. However, he has emphasized that the respondents should not be pe rmitted to use the college class rooms beyond the aforesaid two days, which will have the potential of badly affecting the academic atmosphere of the college. From the materials on record it appears that the Deputy Commissioner was submitted with a report dated 31.12.2012 by the Committee that was constituted by him to make physical verification of venues for issue and receipt of polling materials, strong room and counting of votes etc., as per the latest statutory n orms and guideline for smooth conduct of Panchayat Election, 2013. In the said r eport the Nagaon College along with some other institutions were recommended for requisition for the ensuing Panchayat Election. However, as stated in the affid avit except the auditorium and a part of the collage, the remaining part of the College will be under requisition only for two days and out of which only on one day i.e. 14.02.2013 classes will not be held. Although apart from the auditorium part of the college will also remain under oc cupation from the period from 20.01.2014 to 15.02.2013, but as submitted by both Mr. R.K.Bora, learned State Counsel and Mr. M.U. Mahmud, learned counsel, repre senting the Election Commission, there will be no disturbance for holding the cl asses and that if any damage is caused, the college will be provided with adequa te compensation.
Decision
In view of the above, this writ petition is disposed of with the followi The District Administration shall strictly adhere to the schedule of req ng directions: 1. uisition as indicated in their counter affidavit and not beyond that. 2. Requisitioning of the part of the college, as indicated in the counter a ffidavit, shall be arranged in such a way so that that the regular classes in th e college are not disturbed. They will also ensure that the examinations, both r egular and under IDOL as scheduled are held without any disturbance. In case of any damage being caused because of the requisitioning, upon proper as sessment, compensation shall be paid to the College Authority.